Antarctic Cup - Series Preview
Giants OF Oliver Nielsen, in game 2 of the division series.
Karl Peters, GSN correspondant
August 30th, 2015
Teams competing in the inaugural "Antarctic Cup" Finals
Pajt-Vorten Comets (68-58) vs Nemessey Giants (80-46)
So, it comes down to two.
The long baseball season is now reaching it's crescendo. As the year started, South Georgians didn't have any professional baseball. Then, in January, twelve teams sprouted to life. A few months later, the teams began their journey. After a tough 126-game season, four teams remained. A further series whittled the group down to just two teams .... and they will now face each other in the Antarctic Cup Finals.
Nemessey
Representing the North Division is undoubtedly the most powerful team in the land, the
Nemessey Giants.
The nickname "Giants" suit them well : after a thoroughly dominant regular season where they racked up a league-best 80 wins, they looked like giants in the playoffs as well and made quick work of the Salvesen Aeros in the Division Series, out-scoring them 45-11 in a short, lopsided 4-game sweep. Their offense was firing on all cylinders in the series; Shaw, Nielsen, 'Pogo' and Bodenhamer all batted above .400 in the series, and the team had great pitching from nearly every member of the team. The team faced adversity right away with the injury to starter Orlando Juarez in the first inning of the first game, but the bullpen saved the day and the team never looked back. They got solid starts from Blythe, Lloyd and Houlton in the other games, and it was more than enough to push the Giants to the finals.
Overall, the Giants are a great, well-rounded team and will be hard to defeat.
Pajt-Vorten
Representing the South Division is a team that had a slightly tougher time getting here, the
Pajt-Vorten Comets.
The offense-heavy Comets have been fighting adversity for the better part of a month already. They had to play 'playoff baseball' in early-August just to get into the playoffs, holding back the Suns and Pintails in the process.
Then, in the Division Series, they faced a powerful Annenkov Vikings squad, and truly gave them a fight. Despite both teams having formidable offensive clout, the deciding game 7 came down to pitching ... Monuz vs Kozdras. The game ended in a 1-0 nail-biter, with Monuz and the Comets on the winning end.
The Comets have the best offense in the league, but Annenkov proved that good pitching can limit them, and the Comets enter the Finals with next to no rest after their long, seven-game division series.
Comets manager Yuri Tambov
However, the adversity doesn't concern Comets manager Yuri Tambov at all. "We fought hard to do well, fought hard to get in the post-season, and fought hard to get in this series", he said, "we're certainly not about to let this fight go. Bring em on! We're ready!"
The Comets are the underdogs in this series, but they do have two statistics working in their favor : they have been ranked #1 in the league this season in runs scored (ahead of even Nemessey, despite having been hampered by injury all season off-and-on), and they won the season series vs. Nemessey; 7 wins to the Giants' 5.
There is a great "David vs Goliath" battle brewing, and stay tuned to GSN tomorrow to find out how the first ever Antarctic Cup Finals shakes out, game by game!